MERIKAEZ Italian Greyhounds & other Sighthounds
Merikaez
Nutmeg’s Story
By Tricia - his owner
References
supplied by Mary - his breeder
<>Born on the 3.3.2002 Nutmeg was a
delightful puppy. Curious and playful with
both dogs and
people, attentive, enjoying being in my company with lots of cuddles
and no
sign of separation anxiety. He had all
the usual normal ages and stages, vaccinations, puppy school, basic
obedience
and socialisation. He was always shy but
would come around with encouragement.
<>
We had some success in the show ring
collecting some best in
breeds at various shows and winning the best minor puppy in the
Tasmanian Toy
Dog Club show held at the Royal Hobart Show in 2002.
<>The first thing I started to notice was
probably when we
started agility training in late ‘03. We
had to wait till he was eighteen months old because of bone development
maturity and the risk of injury with this sort of activity. He developed an absolute fear of people and
strangers, in particular, and would startle easily and become anxious
with new
things which was out of character. Then
one day in March 04 we were in the garden and I noticed he was
extremely
anxious, unfocused and couldn’t walk. He
was very unsteady on his feet and uncoordinated; he appeared to be
stepping
high and irregular but not falling down and wouldn’t come when called. I picked him up and held him till he settled
down. My first fear was that he was
suffering from a poison of some sort but he recovered completely after
about
five minutes.
<>
The first Vet visit in April 2004
included a complete
physical and neurological examination and a blood screen for
electrolytes and
full blood count, everything came back normal.
There was a suspicion that it may have been a seizure but no
treatment
was indicated and I was sent home to observe.
Unfortunately, he developed regular seizures resulting in about
five per
month.
<>The pattern was always the same. When I was around he would come to me with a
dazed look (I began to recognise he was experiencing an aura or
awareness that
something was going to happen). After a
couple of minutes he would become stiff in the neck, throwing his head
back,
pupils dilated and start ‘paddling’ at this stage he would not be able
to stand
properly but he wouldn’t fall down stiff.
It didn’t appear to me that he would lose consciousness but be
extremely
fearful. This would last for a minute or
two and then he seemed to have another stage where he wasn’t paddling
but lip
smacking, face twitching and acting as if the room was spinning, still
extremely fearful. This would last as
long as fifteen minutes and would usually end with him vomiting. He would make a complete recovery as if
nothing had happened.
<>
Because of the frequency of seizures he
was started on
phenobarbitone, a major tranquilliser.
He was given a dose of 15mgs twice per day.
This stopped the seizures and we tried to
continue our activities as before. But he became lethargic and lost
interest
and wouldn’t engage in training, often running off and sniffing around
the oval
not responding to recall. He also
started to put on weight.
<>This continued for about six months, he
had phenobarbitone
levels and liver function tests done to make sure he was in the
therapeutic
threshold and he put on about two kilos.
There were also some breakthrough seizures, which I documented
and kept
a log, I even had a video of a seizure for reference. This saddened me
because
it meant that we couldn’t continue with agility. If
there was anything common about these
seizures they occurred if he got excited or stressed and we had looked
at a
range of things such as diet, chemicals in the environment and
different
situations and it was the stress/excitement that was a common theme. Regularly he might have a seizure either on
the way to agility or later that night so we stopped.
In October ‘O4 his dose of phenobarbitone was
doubled and he was getting 30mgs twice per day.
<>I’d reported all of this to Mary and she
had a chance to
have a look at him in late October ‘04.
She had a suspicion that he may have hypothyroidism. I reported this to the Vet on his next
scheduled check in April ‘05 and a T4 test was done but it was normal. We continued on for about another month and
then he started having more breakthrough seizures, so much so that the
Vet
wanted to increase the dose of phenobarbitone even more.
I was unhappy about him being on this drug as
it affects the liver and I was sure it contributed towards his lethargy.
<>
Mary insisted he should have further
investigations done
regarding thyroid function. She
indicated there was no appearance of epilepsy in Nutmeg’s breeding line
and all
the symptoms indicated to her hypothyroidism.<>Armed
with information on thyroid
function tests I went back
to the Vet saying I wasn’t happy about increasing the phenobarbitone
and could
we investigate the thyroid further.
Thank goodness he was receptive to the information Mary
provided
and he
was curious himself why the seizures had increased.
In May ’05 blood was taken for the usual T4
which was normal, liver function tests - normal and a test sent to Melbourne. The test sent to
Melbourne
was a thyroid stimulating
hormone
test at a cost of nearly $300 and the results indicated low thyroid
hormone
levels, however the T4 cell tests were showing normal levels.
<>
In late May ’05 we commenced thyroxine
tablets at a dose of
200 micrograms each day and phased out the phenobarbitone over a month. We get regular T4 tests done and all of them
have come back normal. More than relying
on the tests I monitor his physical appearance and character as I find
these to
be a more reliable indicator than the T4 cell test which have remained
normal
during the course of his illness. <>
He hasn’t looked back.
He lost more than two kilograms and is a healthy 5.2 kilos, he
got his
puppyish curiosity back and become more focused.
We have gone back to agility and he is
doing OK, we have a
lot of fun. It takes some work to get
his attention and focus but then he is a sight hound!!
We finished 2006 having
been part of our
dog club’s agility
demonstration team at the Royal Hobart Show, a pass in strategic
partners at an
agility games weekend and receiving an encouragement award at the end
of year
club celebrations. We’re happy!
<>
<>October 2007 we are once
again thrilling the crowds with an agility demonstration at the Hobart
Royal Show
<>
Reference Material
The inheritance of
the disease sourced from Oxford Labs. http://www.oxfordlabs.com/vpthyovw.html
If a relative of my dog has thyroid
disease. What are the odds of my animal being a carrier of this disease?
Canine Autoimmune Thyroiditis is an autosomal recessive genetic
disease. Therefore, if a relative of a dog is affected with this
disease, it could be a carrier of the disease.
Information on blood tests
for the disease sourced from Antech Labs.
T3
and/or T4 Autoantibodies (T3AA/T4AA) http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/THYROID-ASSESSING-FUNCTION.HTM
Whereas most cases of
autoimmune thyroiditis (˜92%) have elevated TgAA in their serum, only
about 20% have elevated serum T3 and/or T4 AA. Thus, the presence of
elevated T3 and/or T4 AA supports a diagnosis of auto-immune
thyroiditis but underestimates its prevalence, as negative
(non-elevated) serum T3 and/or T4 AA levels do not rule out
thyroiditis. On the other hand, positive results support the presence
of thyroiditis, even if the TgAA level is normal. Most circulating
antibodies are against T3 (~70%), some affect both T3 and T4 (˜25%),
and only a few affect T4 alone (˜5%). When these autoantibodies are
present, measurement of T4 and T3 levels will be spuriously
high.
Some symptoms of the disease
sourced from an article by Dr Jean Dodds http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/DODDS-CANINE-AI-THYROID.HTM
Neuromuscular Problems
seizures / mental dullness / exercise intolerance / neurologic signs /
polyneuropathy / lethargy / weight gain / cold intolerance / mood
swings hyperexcitability / stunted growth / chronic infections.
These are merely
snippets and the full articles on the pages indicated should be read .